@ArcadePosting: A Deep Dive into The Arcade Archives
Our exclusive interview with an anonymous Twitter account posting every Arcade image they can get their hands on!
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German Amusement Center in 1920s
Any Arcade enthusiast that frequents Twitter has surely come across “Arcade Random Posting”— the account is as simple as it sounds; it posts and shares just about everything related to current arcade venues, personal arcade collections around the world, and Arcade cabinets throughout history. “ARP” has been a great support to Arcade Press, so we wanted to know a little more about the person behind the account.
Check out this exclusive interview with ARP about arcades, the future of the scene, and their favorite arcade games….Enjoy!
Arcade Press: Hey A.R.P— Can you tell us a little about your early arcade experiences? Whereabouts did you grow up?
Arcade Random: I grew up in the Midwest and there were several big arcades near me. Tekken and Marvel vs Capcom were big games for the area and several old-school champs came from my hometown. Some of my favorite memories as a kid were going to arcades with friends during the summer to play MVC2 and DDR with some of my youngest memories being me trying to play Mortal Kombat on showcase cabinets when I was too short to reach the buttons, and probably too young to play!
Unfortunately, many of the arcades I grew up with are gone today. However, there have been many new indie places that have taken their place. There is a lot of local love for arcades and many people keep the fire burning!
AP: Loved those old-school MK cabinets; there’s a picture of me as a kid somewhere literally too short to press the buttons and still see the screen! — Tell me, what’s the inspiration behind the account? How did the idea to share Arcade-related content of all types finally come about?
AR: The inspiration was stolen from @DailyMK4 and @RhythmPosting. I loved the pictures I saw on @DailyMK4’s account (and the jokes) and I just love seeing arcades worldwide. I thought the idea of an account that would post them would be something interesting to try!
There are around 4k pictures in the archives, and I’ve taken around 200 of them, but most are pictures by other people. I didn’t want to think of this as my twitter account or my complete idea, but instead something that could be anonymous and enjoyed by all!
AP: Glad that you started the project! What else have you been up to lately? What’s next for @ArcadePosting?
AR: I have been very busy with work and personal projects! There are always too many things I’d like to do, from making a JAMMA supergun, to making a JVS supergun, to making a JAMMA VS kit, to just fixing up my workstation and fixing old boards and making sure they’re in tip-top shape. I also have decided to sell off a few of my extra parts & boards to fund future projects so it’s always fun getting everything hooked up to a cabinet to get pictures to post online!
As for this account, I have been very lucky to have 10k people follow me, so I wanted to do something special for that milestone. I devised some code to randomly pick one of the hundred+ people who have submitted photos, post their submission and credit them. It took a bit of work to manually sort that information into folders, but it was worth it in the end. I just hope the Twitter bot picks some good pictures to post!
AP: How do you envision the future of arcades?
AR: Talk to me in 3 years after Covid-19 is closer to being done. I know a lot of Japanese arcades are doing poorly but I’ve seen many arcades in Europe and the UK open recently so I honestly couldn’t tell you. I’ve seen young people go to events with tons of arcade cabinets and not give 2 flips and I’ve seen the opposite. In America, the Barcade fad is making cabinets go up in value since they’re in demand again, but I just hope it stays something significant instead of a quick buck for the times. There are terrible places with barely any effort put into them and it makes me a bit unhappy that cabinets are just put on location with no effort put into them. I also do enjoy that Round 1 is making major strides in the states, same with Dave & Busters…So, in the end, who knows [laughs]
AP: What’s your favorite game? Favorite cabinets?
AR: My favorite game is Street Fighter III: Third Strike because I believe it’s a modern masterpiece, that may or may not be broken as all get out (but hey look at that Idle Animation for Elena!) My favorite Japanese cabinet might as well be my G-Balance cabinet since I’ve really fallen in love with the thing. It’s very versatile and HD games look amazing on it. I’d have to say my favorite American cabinet would be the Midway Mortal Kombat 2/3/4 & Killer Instinct ½ cabinet. It was a common cabinet where I grew up and I even owned a cabinet once but sold it when I made the switch to just sit-down cabinets. The Mortal Kombat cabinet is just the very essence of Classic Arcade for me.
AP: What’s a common misconception people tend to have about arcades?
AR: I believe people see cabinets as these magical boxes that are super dangerous and complicated. They’re not, besides the CRT really. A cabinet is the exact same as a console but with the TV integrated into the system. Since most stuff is JAMMA or JVS, lots of games are swappable without too much re-wiring, thus making collections easy to start and enjoy once you know the basics. PCBs aren’t SUPER fragile, but most should be handled with care. You won’t kill your CPS3 unit if you knock into it but still treat it with respect. It’s all about knowing where to ask your questions as these things weren’t meant to be owned by the common person. I always try to help when I see someone in need, and I am very grateful for this community because everyone else has helped me greatly. Its such an awesome collective of people!!
AP: What’s your favorite image you've shared so far?
AR: It would have to be the multiple candy cabinets in the basement, all running Marvel vs Capcom 2. I love that game so much, it used to be my favorite before I knew about Third Strike. Just seeing so many boards of that classic game running just makes me happy!!
AP: Anything else on your mind you'd like to share with our readers? Upcoming projects?
AR: I do plan to do another give-away and have it more arcade focused but I need to plan it out a little bit better. Look forward to future content and future free stuff!! I would also like to host a mystery game tournament on actual cabinets and boards. This has always been a dream of mine to do. Multi boards have made something like this a doable reality so keep a lookout if such a tournament happens, I may be involved in some form!
Arcade Posting is such a G. Always helps and shares info. Positive person to boot.